A royal visit to a North Wales steel works coincided with the 30th anniversary of the end of manufacturing at the plant.

HRH the Duke of York arrived at Shotton's Corus Colors site in Flintshire for a tour around the company’s Deeside plant. As the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, Prince Andrew was touring the site to find out more about how the company operates and what it has to offer in the 21st century.

Corus said that it was honored to welcome such a prestigious visitor and took pride in showing him around its galvanizing line and PV Accelerator facility.

Mr Peter Strikwerda MD at Corus Colors said that "We are delighted to host the visit and thoroughly enjoyed meeting with the Duke of York. As one of Shotton’s biggest local employers, Corus has a vital role to play in providing jobs for local people and contributing to the local economy. It meant a lot to us that HRH took time out of his busy schedule to visit us and find out more about our business."

During the visit the prince was joined by a number of local dignitaries for the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate his visit.

The visit marked the 30th anniversary of the closure of steel manufacture in Shotton at the expense of 6,500 jobs and thousands more suppliers and contractors. The current Corus site is now surrounded by Deeside Industrial Park, built on the former steel-making site.

Prince Andrew is the third generation of royal visitors to Shotton. Both King George VI and Queen Elizabeth paid a visit in 1941 and 1943, to help boost local morale during the War. Prince Phillip visited in 1953 to mark the opening of the new melting shop and the first blast furnace and coking plant at the site.

(Sourced from www.dailypost.co.uk)